Photo ITAR-TASS

He is in Venezuela on a visit and has had talks with Rafael Ramirez, Venezuelan Oil and Mineral Resources Minister and at the same time head of the state-owned oil and gas concern Petroleos de Venezuela, on Tuesday, January 29.

The sided agreed to study the possibility of developing offshore fields in addition to the five projects that are already underway in Venezuela.

Another result of the talks is the agreement to create joint ventures for drilling and servicing operations. Uralmash may be engaged in one of them to supply, assemble and maintain drilling rigs. In the future, their production may be organised in Venezuela.

The joint venture will be set up on the same terms as the existing ones: 60 percent of assets will be owned by Venezuela and 40 percent by Russia. Preliminary talks concerned the supply of 50 drilling rigs.

Speaking of joint offshore operations, Ramirez specified that they would be carried out in the Gulf of Paria in Rio Caribe and Mejillones blocks that are part of the Mariscal Sucre field, where the two companies plan to produce 600 million cubic feet of gas a day.

The Venezuelan Oil and Mineral Resources Ministry will also allow Rosneft to acquire the share currently owned by TNK-BP in Petromonagas, where controlling interest belongs to Petroleos de Venezuela.

Petromonagas has running operations in the State of Anzoategui that covers a part of the Orinoco oil belt. The deal will make Rosneft the largest Russian operator within the national oil company, which was created in 2008 by five Russian oil companies: Rosneft, LUKOIL, TNK-BP, Gazprom Neft, and Surgutneftegaz.